Morphological Indices and Yield of Castor (Ricinus communis L.) as Influenced by Organic and Inorganic Sources of Nitrogen

Morphological indices and yield of castor as influenced by organic and inorganic sources of nitrogen was studied at the Agricultural College Farm, Raichur on deep black clay soil during late Kharif season of 2002-2003. The result showed that, green leaf manuring of sunnhemp recorded significantly higher seed yield (10.23 q ha^-1), dry matter production (279.11 g plant^-1), leaf area index (2.119), number of leaves (48.19), number of branches (3.80) and plant height (188.40 cm) at 120 DAS over the sole castor without green manuring and castor with in situ green manuring. Among the nitrogen levels application of 80 kg N ha^-1 produced significantly higher seed yield (10.09 q ha^-1), dry matter production (269.92 g plant^-1), leaf area index (2.236), number of leaves per plant (49.64), number of branches per plant (3.86) and plant height (195.34 cm.) at 120 DAS over the rest of the treatments while it remained at par with the application of 60 kg N ha^-1.